I went to college at the University of California at San Diego (UCSD) and honestly, I did not have much of a relationship with God at the time. I believed in God and had a Bible, but there was no talking with God.
Fast forward many years, and my faith and relationship with God had matured but I still wouldn’t call it a relationship. During that post-college, newly married, living-in-San Diego time of my life, I discovered a music band based out of San Diego whose lead singer is a pastor’s kid, who also went to UCSD, and makes Christian music - Switchfoot.
Now, this isn’t your typical worship music, but as a twenty-something child of the ‘80s, it was right up my alley and I fell in love with the band’s alternative sound and the lead singer’s lyrics. I recently watched an interview with Jon Foreman, the lead singer, and I was reminded of the importance of having that relationship with God. In the interview, Foreman talks about his song, “In Bloom,” and explains that it’s about how the waste of one’s past can become the fertilizer for the future when you trust in God:
God, I wanna be reborn
I swear my failure ain't for lack of trying
My broken history decomposes
But it's a part of me that's pushing up roses
I'm a desert in bloom
The story of Jacob in the book of Genesis is a perfect illustration of this relational trust. As a young man, Jacob steals his brother’s birthright and then deceives his father, Isaac, into giving him the blessing that was meant for his brother, Esau. When faced with having to see Esau many years later, Jacob literally wrestles with God all night:
When the man saw that he could not overpower him, he touched the socket of Jacob’s hip so that his hip was wrenched as he wrestled with the man. Then the man said, “Let me go, for it is daybreak.” But Jacob replied, “I will not let you go unless you bless me.” The man asked him, “What is your name?” “Jacob,” he answered. Then the man said, “Your name will no longer be Jacob, but Israel, because you have struggled with God and with humans and have overcome.” (Genesis 32: 25-29)
Submitting and trusting in God eventually brought Jacob reconciliation with Esau. And just like Jacob, I have learned that by having that same kind of relationship with God, I am not defined by the mistakes in my past. Rather, those mistakes are what make my future better and brighter. In short, I’m a desert in bloom!
In His service,
Lori
Click here to listen to Jon Foreman’s In Bloom.
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